Are You Going To Smell Good The Moment The First Kiss Happens?

As the prospect of a new year looms, with new ambitions and resolutions, so does a profusion of new perfumes to mark the occasions ahead. So, if you’re looking to abandon your faithful old fragrance in favor of something new, now would be a good time to start sniffing around.

For guys who are (understandably) wary of straying too far from their tried-and-tested favorites, rest assured that the vast majority of 2013’s colognes present opportunities to upgrade and yet remain loyal to the same brand. In the commercial market, 2013 is the year of the flanker — launches designed to capitalize on the success of existing bestsellers. Fans of the classics like Hugo Boss will naturally gravitate toward Hugo Boss Red while devotees of Gaultier’s classic Le Male may look to Le Beau Male. Givenchy’s classic Gentleman has been remixed into Gentlemen Only. In short, there’s no need to stray into unfamiliar territory when looking for a new cologne in 2013.

Elsewhere among the predictable slew of flankers are Guilty Black Pour Homme, which sits alongside Gucci’s Guilty, and John Varvatos’ Rock Volume Two that — you guessed it — is the sequel to Rock Volume One.

There's also welcome comebacks in the form of Eros by Versace, a brand that has laid low since 2008’s Pour Homme, and Paco Rabanne, who made a spontaneous return with One Million (2008), will follow up his success with the optimistically titled Victory. You can expect extravagant campaigns and celebrity faces designed to catch your attention throughout 2013 — just be sure to make your decision with your nose first and foremost.

Eros by Versace

Few brands encapsulate the ideas of power and sex quite as naturally as Versace. Eros, the brand's first men’s fragrance in five years, doesn't veer too far off the standard script. The first clue is in the title: Eros was the Greek god of Love. Most of us are more familiar with him by his Roman name, Cupid, but perhaps the image of a cherub shooting a bow and arrow wasn't going to move as much product as a campaign featuring a bronzed, half-naked Adonis draped in a Versace-print silk dressing gown. So Eros it is. The juice contained in this flamboyant Greco-Roman-styled flask is an unusually seductive mix of mint oil, lemon, apple, tonka, ambroxan and geranium. Fresh, bright and woody and not as rich as you might expect.

Gentlemen Only by Givenchy

Where designer brands often employ obvious celebrities (Ryan Reynolds for Boss, Robert Pattinson and Jude Law for Dior, David Beckham for, er, David Beckham), Givenchy’s choice of Simon Baker (of The Mentalist fame) seems deliberately random by comparison.

Gentlemen Only is not, as its unfortunate name might suggest, a reference to a seedy strip joint. In fact, it’s a refined fragrance intended to evoke the chivalry of yesteryear. Fragrance-philes will have caught the nod to Givenchy’s classic Gentleman (1974) in both name and bottle design. Consider Gentlemen Only a 21st-century reinterpretation of the masculine classic with a fresh and spicy opening that gives way to a deep and intense wood and smoke character. Nowhere near the genius of the original, but close enough.

Le Beau Male by Jean Paul Gaultier

At first glance, it would be easy to confuse the new Gaultier release with its infamous predecessor — the iconic torso bottle and tin packaging remain, as does the magic touch of the original perfumer, Francis Kurkdjian. And there’s a pretty high-camp advertising campaign to boot.

But the similarities between the two Males end there. Olfactory speaking, Le Beau Male is so far removed from its predecessor that it could have benefited from a completely original concept and name. The reinterpretation is a frosty and sharp blend, featuring a cool blast of mint right at the front. Le Beau Male settles down into a more familiar lavender accord after a while but there are only fleeting traces of the oriental facets contained in the original bestseller.

The Game by Davidoff

Gimmicky bottles appear to be Davidoff’s strong point these days, and while the stack of poker chips-shaped flask for The Game isn’t quite as cheesy as the barbell design used for Champion, it’s hardly a subtle hint that this fragrance is intended for “players” and “playas.” The composition is a woody-aromatic blend of Juniper Berries (think of a large Gin & Tonic) that fades to reveal in an iris heart propped up by a base of dark woods. Not anywhere near as risky as the gambling-themed concept suggests, but an accessible men’s fragrance nonetheless.

Hugo Red by Hugo Boss

With the original Hugo Boss now 20 years old — and still going strong — there wasn't really much call for an update. But, hey, when did that ever stop the guys at P&G from pushing another product? The scent is centered around contrasts: hot and cold, solid and liquid. And while the idea of juxtaposing contrasting accords is (somewhat ironically) rather polarizing among fragrance-philes, Red manages to fuse a cold and metallic accord (comprised of grapefruit and rhubarb) with a hot amber drydown featuring cedarwood. And, yes, Jared Leto is still the face.